


The Day The Fire Froze

by parchmentandpencils



Category: Starry - Dahan & D'Angelo
Genre: Angst, Gen, Trigger Warnings, Triggers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 18:34:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30042978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parchmentandpencils/pseuds/parchmentandpencils
Summary: Okay so gotta get the trigger warnings out the way firstTw for the revolver, blood, death————“They spent the day together, mostly in peace”Theo visits Vincent after he shoots himself.
Relationships: Theo van Gogh & Vincent van Gogh
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	The Day The Fire Froze

The letter reached Theo just as he was turning to leave the house to run some errands for Jo. It had been weird weather all day and there had been a knot in his chest, but he’d brushed it off as unimportant. Now, looking at Doctor Gachet’s spidery script on the envelope, the knot returned full force until it physically hurt to breathe.

_ Dear Theo… _

By the time he’d read the first half of the first sentence, he’d frozen in utter disbelief, begging his eyes to skim over the letter more quickly, begging anyone up above to laugh at him, say it was a hoax, anything.

_ Vincent...revolver….wheat fields… may not make it through the night… _

He was tempted to scream, to cry, but he hadn’t cried since he’d held Vincent as he sobbed over their parents all but denouncing him. Now, though, something had loosened inside of him and he could feel the burn of his eyes and throat. And then he grabbed his keys and wallet and bolted out of the house, barely remembering to put on his shoes. Jo would understand.

* * *

All throughout the train ride, he was silently begging Vincent to just  _ hold on,  _ wait for Theo, not to give up, not to… His thoughts were cut off as the train screeched steadily to a stop, and then he was out of the door and heading to where Vincent would be as fast as he could go. Maybe it was the sheer desperation on his face that lead people to get out of his way, or he was just good at avoiding bumping into people, even in a hurry.

“Vincent?” His brother’s name left his lips in a desperate cry as he rushed into the small establishment he knew Vincent to be staying in, and he easily found the back flight of steps that would take him to his brother’s small room. 

He wasn’t covered in a blanket, the wound’s blood seeping through the bandage wrapped around his midsection. Vincent looked more haggard than Theo had ever seen, and he knew that he was just  _ tired.  _ He knew Vincent’s mental health had been spiralling, he knew that the times when he cut off contact were the most trying for him, and he knew that if he knew Vincent better, he would have recognised the signs that he was falling. As it was, he could only stagger forward and drop to his knees beside Vincent’s bed, reaching out a trembling hand to stroke his brother’s hair. Vincent leant into the touch automatically and tilted his head, opening his eyes to see Theo.

“Th-Theo? I-I thought you...you were angry at m-me.”

He tried to sit up, but Theo pushed him back down and smoothed back some stray hairs from his face.

“Don’t...don’t sit up, you’ll hurt yourself.”  _ Is that all you could come up, Theo? Pathetic. _

“Why—why are you here?”

“I couldn’t just leave you.” He took a breath and tried to continue. “I—if anything happened to you I’d die myself, you know? You’re my entire life.”

Vincent laughed a little, but it had no real feeling to it, and it scared Theo more than he’d admit.

“Who’d…who’d need a failure for a brother?”

“Vincent Willem Van Gogh!” Theo said sternly. “You take that back right now!”

Vincent could only stare wide-eyed.

“Ever since I was born, I could remember  _ you.  _ You’re my brother, my conscience. While I got into trouble, you took the fall. Where I shined, you stayed quiet. While I flourished, you...you were being told off by our parents for something you couldn’t have done because you were right here with me.” He breathed in. “I  _ love  _ you. The people downstairs, they love you. Everyone else doesn't know what they’re missing.”

Vincent’s eyes had filled up but he blinked them away, turning away from Theo for a moment. “I don’t know what brother you’re talking about, but that certainly isn’t me,” he half-joked as he turned back a second later.

Theo flicked Vincent between the eyes. “Ha ha, very funny.”

“Jerk.”

“Idiot.”

“Mummy’s little boy.”

Theo mock-gasped. “You take that back!”

Vincent grinned. “Never.”

In return, Theo pinched him. “Ass.”

“Is that all you can come up with?” Vincent mocked, picking up a spare pillow and feebly throwing it at Theo, wincing in pain at the twinge it sent through his stomach.

Theo noticed the wince and was automatically by Vincent’s side again. Vincent gave him a watery smile. “You’re like a mother hen, you know that? Maybe you should get an apron which is bright pink and frilly and it says “woman of the house,” and you should let Jo rest for a change.”

Theo said nothing, only putting the pillow on Vincent’s eyes and nose and not letting him see. This turned out to be a mistake, because Vincent’s mouth was still free, and he managed to give Theo a lick on his hand. Theo squealed and backed away before he froze, something Vincent picked up on  _ right  _ away.

“Did you just…. _ squeal?” _

“I did not! I’m a very manly man thank you very much.”

“Thank God for small miracles.”

“I kn...HEY!”

Theo lunged forward, but upon realising he couldn’t exactly tickle Vincent, he grabbed a toe and pulled it. Vincent squeaked in surprise.

“You-“

“No I didn’t.”

“But I could have sworn-“

“Nope. You must be imagining things.”

Theo sat on the floor with a thump. “I’m confused,” he whined.

Vincent burst out laughing, but then it trailed off as he recalled his “Mummy’s little boy” comment from earlier.

“Vin?” Theo asked, the old nickname slipping past his filter.

“Theo?”

“What happened?”

“Do you...do you think they’d be proud of me?”

“Our parents?”

“...yeah.”

“If they could see you now, I’d imagine they’d be sad that you tried to kill yourself, they’d probably be at your bedside right now if they could. They’d hold your hand and tell you how brave you are.”

“Do you think they loved me?”

Theo wanted to be honest, but Vincent needed this closure.

“They did. They fiercely loved you, just as they loved the rest of us.”

“Theo?” This time Vincent’s voice was sleepy.

“Yeah?”

“You’re a terrible liar.”

Theo laughed, which turned into a sob. “I-I know.”

“Theo?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks.”

Theo hummed slightly. “You never have to thank me. We’re brothers forever.”

A comfortable silence fell among them, and Theo felt his eyes growing heavier.

“You don’t have to stay on the floor, you know,” came Vincent’s equally as sleepy reply.

“It’s comfy.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Vin?” 

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

And Theo slipped into dreamland, along with Vincent. He dreamt of Vincent recovering, of everything being okay. They  _ would  _ be okay, because Vincent would recover and they’d go home together and Jo and Vincent would have a strong relationship and Theo would make drinks for all three of them and-

Theo woke with fire blazing within him, to make everything okay. It’d be okay, he would even force it if he had to. And then he looked up. At the empty bed.

And the fire within him froze.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so if anyone’s confused as to what happened, basically Vincent died  
> (Not sure if thats historically accurate though...im sorry)


End file.
